What's Left of Me
by Ceiphied Knight
Summary: There are things we all wish we had said before losing the chance forever. But when Amelia gets a second chance, she knows it's worth fighting for. COMPLETE!


WHAT'S LEFT OF ME

_I just found this story sitting unfinished on my hard drive, so I decided to finish it! It has to be at least 6 months old. The part about the barking dogs was inspired by the newest X-Files movie that came out a year ago, if that tells you anything. Anyway, I guess I have a thing for this kind of storyline. Deal with it!_

_Story takes place a year or so after Revolution/Evolution-R._

_

* * *

  
_

"_I've been dying inside_

_Little by little_

_Nowhere to go_

_I'm going out of my mind_

_An endless circle_

_Running from myself until_

_You gave me a reason for standing still..."_

-What's Left of Me, Nick Lachey

* * *

"Please, save my baby!" the young woman cried, struggling against the neighbor who was keeping her from running back into the burning cottage.

"We're on it! For JUSTICE!" Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun yelled and promptly Ray Winged herself towards the building.

"I'm coming with you!" Zelgadis Greywords exclaimed, running after her with inhuman speed. The chimera swordsman pulled up the mask he often wore over the bottom half of his face. The fire would affect his skin far less than it would a human's, but the smoke inhalation would be equally bad for him.

"I'll fly in the upstairs window, Zelgadis-san!" Amelia called back to him. Zel nodded and ran in through the front door.

Once inside, the smoke and heat almost overwhelmed him. Still, he pushed his way through what was once the living room, searching for any signs of life.

Upstairs, Amelia quickly found the crying baby. She cradled the little bundle and held him close, wrapping her cloak around both of them and flying back out the same window she had entered from.

Back out in the sunshine, Amelia landed and gave the still crying infant over to his mother. Tears streamed down the woman's face and her chant of "thank you" seemed to be the mantra keeping her from fainting.

Amelia looked all around her and said to no one in particular, "Where's Zelgadis-san?"

At that moment, the flames consumed the last of the little cottage and the roof collapsed with a roar. Spinning around, seeing the inferno behind her, an absolute terror suddenly overcame and petite princess and she screamed, "ZELGADIS-SAN!"

She went to rush back into the building, but a large man from the village grabbed her by the arms and held her steady, no matter how much she struggled against him.

The man yelled at Amelia, "You can't go back in there, it's a lost cause! You'll die!" But Amelia couldn't hear him.

All she could do was watch the rest of the cottage collapse in on itself, as the tears streamed down her face and she silently mouthed his name over and over.

* * *

Lina Inverse and Gourry Gabriev arrived in the city of Seyruun with heavy hearts. They had been summoned by Prince Phil, Amelia's father, out of concern for his daughter.

After he had sent her out to find her friends once again, with Zelgadis knighted as her protector, Philionel el de Seyruun had thought things might finally bloom between his daughter and her quiet friend. Phil was no genius, but he knew when two people were in love with each other. It was hard to tell with Zelgadis, of course, but all the little signs were there. Phil remembered the time he had gone undercover in disguise after faking his own death, but come back to the castle to peek in on Amelia to make sure she was all right. Zelgadis has been the first to run in, yell at Amelia to get down (even though Lina had also been in the room) and try to blast Phil to oblivion.

That had been several years ago now, but it had cemented it for the Crown Prince. Zelgadis may have been a cursed man, trapped in a demon chimera body, but dammit if he didn't love Amelia. He had the ability to protect her like few other men, as well, and that was always a plus for Phil. He would have gone to bat for the young man if it came down to it, because some people may have opposed having a chimera married into the royal family.

But now, Phil couldn't help the pain of guilt and grief that consumed him. To make matters worse, he had to watch his daughter suffer.

It had been two weeks since the tragedy that took Zelgadis, and Amelia had barely eaten nor slept. She had never been a big girl, but since the accident at least 10 pounds had fallen off her already tiny frame. In desperation, Phil had sent for his daughter's other close friends and traveling companions.

Lina and Gourry were shown into the castle and led straight to Amelia's room. Giving Gourry a pained look, Lina lifted her arm and knocked.

"Come in," came the almost inaudible reply.

Gourry pushed the large wooden door open and the two step inside. The sight they were faced with made their hearts sink even more.

Amelia was dressed in a long white nightgown, sitting on a window seat that stretched the length of the large bay window on the back wall of her bedroom. Her hair looked like it hadn't been brushed in days, and her skin was sallow. Large dark bags under her eyes scarred her once beautiful face, and she looked to be nothing more than skin and bones. Lina sighed and cautiously approached her friend.

"Hey, Amelia...why don't you come out and have dinner with us?"

"I'm not hungry," Amelia said, not looking at her friend.

"Dammit, Amelia!" Lina said, grabbing the younger woman by the shoulder and turned her around. Gourry was about to say something about Lina controlling her temper, but he didn't have to. Without changing expression, Amelia forcefully slapped Lina's hand away and stood up.

"Fine," she said. "I'll change and be down in a bit."

Lina nodded and then turned back to Gourry and they both left, pulling the heavy door closed behind them.

A little while later, Amelia entered the dining room wearing an understated but lovely satin gown in a very light blue, somewhere between sky blue and turquoise.

_Reminds me of Zel's skin_, Lina thought, but then chided herself for thinking such a thing at a time like this.

Amelia sat without saying a word. From the head of the table, Prince Phil exclaimed with forced enthusiasm, "Welcome, Lina Inverse and Gourry Gabriev! The city of Seryuun is honored by your company!" Some other various court members around the table politely applauded.

Phil seemed to consider his words carefully, then plunged on, "It is with a heavy heart that I make the following toast to a comrade who was recently lost in battle. To one Zelgadis Greywords for his loyalty to my daughter, and honor in combat which helped this city many times!" He raised his glass silently, and everyone around the table made the same gesture. Except for Amelia.

"He wasn't lost in battle, daddy," Amelia suddenly said. Everyone's heads turned to look at her in surprise.

Amelia stood, pushing her chair out behind her. "He died in a stupid accident, and it was my fault for not being more vigilant!" Lina opened her mouth to tell her friend that it wasn't her fault, but Amelia turned and fled from the room.

* * *

The moonlight shone down upon Amelia, as if it were only for her. She stood on the balcony outside her bedroom and didn't care that the cold breeze was causing goosebumps to raise up all over her body.

"Zelgadis-san," she whispered to herself. "I'm so sorry."

She never knew she would react so negatively to tragedies and depression, because she hadn't had an experience like this since her mother died and her older sister had left home. Back then, she was barely old enough to understand the implications, except to know she would never see her mother again, and would probably never see her sister again. This time, it was completely different. She was old enough to understand, just as she had been old enough to love the man she had lost in flames.

She was the obvious one in their unusual relationship, most of the time. But his little hints and signs of caring about her had always been present, and they didn't go unnoticed. He had jumped in front of a sword for her, protected her, and she had tried to return the favor several times, as well. Amelia began remembering all the good times they'd had together, and the tears began falling again.

They had never put a label on their relationship, because it was good enough for them that they were allowed to be together at all. Rather than just having a male companion hanging around her to stir up gossip, Zelgadis had been given the role of her bodyguard. Not that it completely stopped all the gossip, but the older members of the council and palace staff could more easily deny that there was anything else going on between them, since it made tactical sense to have a virtually indestructible stone chimera as a bodyguard for the princess. The younger staff (especially the young women) were a different story. There were always whispers of the princess' _real _relationship with the oddly handsome and mysterious chimera sorcerer.

After the restoration of Taforashia had been completed, which took over a year, Zelgadis had shown back up on Amelia's doorstep as if no time had passed. At first she was a bit angry at him for being gone so long. His letters had been few and far between, and increasingly frustrating because he was becoming more heartbroken due to the fact he hadn't found a cure or even a decent lead to one. She would always write back and tell him that all he had to do was come home, because she wanted him just the way he was. But he would always say that he wasn't good enough for her.

But, finally, he had gone back to Seyruun. Whether it was because he had finally accepted Amelia's feelings, or because he had lost hope of ever regaining his human body, Amelia did not know. Nor did she ask. Underneath the brief flash anger and resentment she felt at that time, there still remained an unbroken bond of friendship and love between them.

And so it had been that Zelgadis took up residence in the palace, and stuck close to her side most days. Other days he would go scouting around the city libraries, still doing research into his cure. Amelia had asked her father to put out a reward for anyone who could bring them viable information regarding a chimera reversal process, and so far that had led to some very useful theories that had come in from all over the world.

But it was due to a wanderlust that both the princess and the chimera shared that had led them to making up some "mission" that they felt that had to attend to, and received her father's permission to head out on a short journey together to do so.

It was that need to travel, to leave the safety of Seyruun, that had led to Zelgadis' death.

Amelia openly wept into her hands before her reverie was broken by the sound of hooves down below her, coming up to the front gate of the castle. In the dark, she could only make out the shadowy outline of a man on horseback. He stopped at the gate and handed something to one of the guards. They spoke for a moment, and the guard turned and began running towards the castle. The man on horseback turned and left.

Amelia thought it was so curious that she actually stopped crying. For the first time in weeks, her thoughts weren't of Zelgadis. She turned and went back into her bedroom, planning to find out what the guard had been given. Luckily, she didn't have to go far.

A thunderous knocking came upon her door, startling the princess. She quickly flung the door open and saw the very guard she was about to go looking for. He dropped to one knee and presented an envelope up to her.

"Your Highness, this was just delivered with urgency. I was told to give it to no one but you. If you were to refuse, I was to tell you that it is from 'the stone knight', and you would know the meaning."

Amelia looked bewildered, but took the envelope. "Thank you," she said, dismissing the guard.

She closed the door and walked over to her desk where she could read the letter in better light. She had no idea what a 'stone knight' was.

She carefully opened the envelope, and then gingerly removed the folded parchment inside.

In the light, her mouth fell open in astonishment. The letter had only three words written on it. "I'M STILL HERE."

It was Zelgadis' handwriting.

* * *

Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun pulled the dark cloak over her head to hide her features, and climbed up on the horse she had taken from the stables. She rarely went anywhere on horseback except for official Seryuun business, but she had to catch up with the messenger. He had at least a 20 minute head start, so she would need to ride hard to make up the time.

Cracking the reigns, she headed off and flew through the city gates, on the trail of the only lead she had on the origin of the letter.

Somewhere in her heart, hope had flared up. She kept trying to tell herself not to get her hopes up because there's a chance it was a trick, or a trap, or just a simple mistake. But she knew from years of experience that the word scrawled on the parchment was Zelgadis' handwriting, and he might have made up something like 'stone knight' to get her attention. After all, her father had Knighted him as her protector. The stone part was obvious.

Was it possible? Could he be alive? They never did find his body in the rubble of the home that had burned down, which Amelia thought was odd considering that his skin should have protected him against burning to ash like a normal human. She just assumed she was wrong, and that he had succumbed more easily to the flames than she thought.

But what if he hadn't been in that house?

Amelia couldn't even fathom why Zelgadis would disappear and let everyone think he was dead, unless of course he had no control over it. But then, why would anyone else want Zelgadis' friends to think he was dead? All these thoughts swirled around in Amelia's head as she rode on.

She had been riding for what felt like hours, and the sun was rising over the horizon. Finally, she saw a dark shape up ahead of her.

"That has to be him!" she exclaimed out loud. She picked up speed.

"Sir! Excuse me, sir!" she cried out, making the man slow his horse. He turned around and what she saw made her gasp, though she tried to hide it.

He was horribly disfigured. Missing his right eye, with scars covering his entire face. There was even a chunk of flesh missing from his nose, and most of his teeth were gone. His lips were so badly chapped, it looked as though they were about to fall off his face.

"Um, sir," Amelia pressed on, as they galloped in unison. "Were you the messenger who just came to Seryuun with a letter for the crown princess?"

"Aye, that'd be me," the man said. "What of it?"

"Well, you see...I'm the princess. Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun. That letter was for me, and I need to know how you acquired it."

"That's easy," the man said, never changing expression. "I escaped with it from a laboratory over past the Theronian Mountains. Crazy assholes." The man began mumbling to himself, as if thinking about the place he had come from made him incredibly agitated.

Trying to bring him back to the present, Amelia plunged ahead, "Sir, I have to know who gave you that letter. Please!"

The man shook his head, "Never got his name. Strange looking fellow. Young. He knew I was escaping from my cell and begged me to take the letter. Being the kind hearted fellow I am, I promised I'd deliver it and then be on my way. Guess I felt bad for the kid. He said there was a girl waiting for him, and he needed to see her again. Poor bastard, he'll never get out of there to see her again. He was odd looking, anyway. Blue. I don't know what girl would wait for that mess."

Amelia's heart skipped a beat.

"Me," she said.

"Huh?"

"I would wait for him. And he's not odd looking, he's beautiful!" Amelia snapped.

She had heard enough. Mumbling a quick 'thank you', she then turned her horse and took off for the Theronian Mountains.

* * *

Amelia rode for what felt like days, but the truth is it only took her about 12 hours to reach the base of the mountains. She came to a fork in the road, and used her best judgment to decide which path to take.

Dogs were barking off in the distance, and she shuddered.

Climbing down off her horse, she decided to go the rest on foot. A lab usually meant experiments, and experiments usually meant there were test subjects.

She decided to follow the barking dogs.

At nightfall she made camp and had a fitful night's sleep. She kept being woken by the dogs, and nightmares about what could be happening to Zelgadis. She saw visions of him being sliced open with some mad sorcerer's saw, all the while screaming for her help. She saw him dismembered, unseeing eyes staring up at her because she was too late. After each horrible dream, she would awaken in a cold sweat.

By the time the sun rose over the horizon, she had packed up and was on her way again. By noon, she had reached the other side of the mountain and come upon an open field. The entire field was fenced in, save for a small space where a dirt path led to a small filthy-looking house. The house looked like part of it was actually built inside the rock face of the mountain, and would have probably been cute to Amelia if she didn't have such a horrible feeling about it.

Amelia decided that the direct approach probably wouldn't be the best idea, so she side-stepped the path and headed for some trees at least ten acres to the left. She would circle all the way around and then wait until dusk to approach the back of the house. Maybe it was from her priestess training, or maybe it was just woman's intuition, but she knew to the depths of her soul that Zelgadis was in that house. And she was going to get him out.

* * *

In the meantime, all hell had broken loose at the royal palace in Seyruun.

"I want my daughter found!" Prince Phil shouted at the handful of soldiers he had ordered to be ready the moment he discovered Amelia was missing.

"Yes, sir!" They answered in unison. Then they reared their horses, cracked the reigns, and took off through the palace gates at full speed.

Reports of a mysterious letter arriving for the princess had begun surfacing, but no one knew the content of the letter or who had sent it. Prince Phil turned to his daughter's friends with fear in his eyes.

"I know Justice is with my daughter, but I can't shake the feeling that something terrible is about to happen."

Lina and Gourry exchanged a determined look with each other before turning back to Phil.

"We'll find her, Phil-san!" Lina announced with confidence. "Nothing will to happen to Amelia while Lina Inverse is still breathing!"

"And me, too!" Gourry added with a smile at the older Monarch.

Phil returned Gourry's smile and said, "thank you" before turning and heading back into the palace. Amelia's uncle Christopher hung back a bit.

Lina and Gourry knew Christopher, though not as well as they knew Phil. They had met him years before during a time when everyone thought Phil was dead. Sadly, they had also had a hand in the death of his only son, Alfred. Indirectly, of course, but Lina still carried some guilt about it. Christopher was a good guy who got dealt a bad hand.

It was unusual for Christopher to address Lina and Gourry privately, other than customary niceties and polite small talk. So it was with some surprise that he walked up to the pair and began speaking to them in a hushed voice.

"I'm sure Amelia's disappearance has something to do with Zelgadis-dono. He had been living here, and the two were inseparable. In her state of grieving I fear she could be easily manipulated to leave Seyruun for some insidious purpose."

Lina's eyes narrowed as she asked Christopher, "Can you think of anyone who would want to hurt Amelia?"

Christopher shook his head. "I'm afraid not. But there are often people who wish to spread sadness and pain just for the sake of doing so."

Lina nodded. "That is something I'm very familiar with."

* * *

Just after nightfall, Amelia crept out from her hiding place in the trees behind the little house and slowly approached her target. There was a little screen door at the very back of the house that she was aiming for, and as soon as she was within about 10 meters she whispered "Levitation" and floated the rest of the way in case any of those damned dogs were around.

Letting herself quietly into the house, Amelia was slapped in the face by a smell that nearly made her vomit right then and there. It was like a mix of decaying flesh, feces, and chemicals that she was sure she wouldn't recognize even if she saw them.

Slapping a hand over her nose and mouth, Amelia edged her way into a room that was dimply lit and covered in dust and cobwebs. The walls were lined by cages all the way up to the ceiling, but only about half of the cages were filled with writhing animals, or at least what Amelia assumed used to be animals.

They were chimeras. Dozens of them. Hideous amalgamations of what appeared to be cats, dogs, beastmen, birds, and unknown animals that Amelia could probably have spent hours trying to identify. She bit back a gasp and another wave of nausea. She wondered if that old man who had brought the letter had been experimented on this way. And she tried hard not to think about Zelgadis being turned into one of these...things.

He would be all right. She'd make sure of it.

Creeping along as close to the cages as she could, she felt talons and claws snagging at her clothing. Just a little further and she would be at the next room and in the clear.

Then the barking started again. This time, about ten feet behind her.

"Who's there?!" Came a man's gruff voice from the room she was desperately trying to enter. Behind her, the dogs were coming closer.

She had to choose. Face the vicious teeth of multiple guard dogs, or face the man who was probably responsible for all these horrors?

She chose the latter.

"ELMEKIA LANCE!" Amelia yelled as she did a barrel roll into the room where the man's voice had come from.

The magical lance didn't hit any particular target, but it was a good distraction.

"What the HELL?!" She heard the same voice yell as the lance dissipated.

Aiming for the direction of the voice, Amelia shouted, "BLAM BLAZER!"

A wave of blue Shamanistic magic shot out of her hands and towards the man whose shadow she could now see on the wall. As the wave enveloped him, she saw his shadow waver.

"Bull's Eye!" She exclaimed to no one in particular.

While the man was most likely trying to recover from her last spell, Amelia shot up and went running around the room, desperately searching for an sign of her missing bodyguard.

"Zelgadis! Zelgadis?!" She called his name over and over, and became increasingly frustrated when there was no answer.

"Is this who you're looking for?"

Amelia spun around with a gasp and came face-to-face with the man whose voice she had been hearing,

He was not very old, probably in his 30s, and he was rather clean and well-kept for someone living and keeping a laboratory in these conditions. He wore a tan smock on his thin frame, and his hair was as blonde as Gourry's, slicked back close to his scalp.

But it was the horrible sight behind him that made Amelia's heart skip a beat, and breath catch in her throat.

Zelgadis lay on a long metal table, his arms and legs strapped down, nude except for a bit of fabric covering his lower regions. Upon first inspection, Amelia couldn't see any missing limbs or any other signs that he had been horrible mutilated. Yet. She gave a small thanks to Ceiphied for that.

"Yes," she answered, sounding braver than she felt. "That's exactly who I'm looking for."

"I was afraid you might come," the odd man said, sounding awfully casual. "During some of our sessions he would call out for you. You _are_ Amelia, yes?"

"Yes," she answered, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Welcome to my home, Amelia. My name is Jerome. It's so nice to finally put a face to the name. You're a very lucky woman, to have such a loyal servant as this one."

Amelia arched an eyebrow at Jerome. "Servant? Who, Zelgadis? He's not my servant."

Jerome looked a bit put off. "He's not? Then why did he run into a burning building at your behest?"

Amelia looked even more confused. "I didn't tell him to run into that house! There was a baby inside and we were trying to...wait a second, how did you know about that?"

Jerome grinned. "Who do you think set that fire?"

Amelia was dumbstruck. "Y-YOU set someone's house on fire?! With a baby inside?! Why would you do that?!"

"Isn't it obvious?" Jerome said, with a scoff. "I assumed that the justice-loving princess of Seyruun wouldn't rest if someone needed rescuing, and her chimera servant would most likely be given the order to find the child. Why would a princess put herself in harm's way, needlessly?"

Amelia gaped at the madman.

"I never thought," he went on, "that the princess herself would risk running into a burning building! But no matter. Even though it would have been easier for me if you'd died then, you won't be leaving this house alive as it is."

"First off," Amelia began, pointing her Justice Finger at the scientist, "I told you Zelgadis is not my servant! He is my best friend and you have done a great injustice by kidnapping him! This is something I, Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun, cannot forgive!"

"And secondly," she went on as the madman kept his gaze on her, "You should never turn your back on a sleeping chimera!"

"Good morning," Jerome heard hissed into his right ear, and felt the cold steel of a scalpel against his throat. He slowly turned his head as much as his captor would allow, and saw angry teal eyes glaring at him.

"Ah, Zelgadis-san, you're awake," Jerome stated in an oddly calm manner.

"You're damn right I am. Who could sleep through one of Amelia's justice speeches, anyway?" The chimera briefly gave the princess a small smile, and Amelia lit up like a Christmas tree.

"Come on, Zelgadis," Amelia said, softly. "Let's get out of here and take him back to Seyruun for trial. Justice will be best served there."

"I couldn't agree more," Zelgadis said, giving the scientist a push forward.

Jerome stumbled a bit, or at least pretended to, and during that time was able to reach into his pocket for something.

"Amelia, look out!" Zelgadis screamed, his voice cracking, as Jerome pulled a syringe out of the pocket of his coat and lunged at the princess.

She didn't have time to react, but luckily her bodyguard's chimeric speed proved handy as he found himself between the scientist and the princess. The needle broke against Zelgadis' stone skin, and he turned and grinned at Jerome.

"Nice try," he said, grabbing the man by the wrists until he heard a satisfying crunch that made Amelia twitch a bit.

"SLEEPING!" she yelled out and Jerome harmlessly flopped into the chimera's arms.

"There, now he can't fight back," Amelia smiled warmly at her best friend as relief and a million other emotions poured through her.

"Oh, um, Zelgadis-san?" she said, slipping back into her normal way of addressing him and turning bright red. "You're not wearing any clothes."

It was then that a certain red-headed sorceress and her blonde swordsman burst into the room.

"Amelia! Zel!" Lina cried, rushing over to them with a fireball floating between her hands, armed and ready. "You're okay!" She skidded to a halt and extinguished the fireball before adding, "and Zel's naked."

The chimera turned a dozen shades of red and placed the sleeping scientist on the floor so he could relieve him of his lab coat. Zelgadis wrapped the slightly-too-big jacket around himself and tried to ignore Lina's taunts about missing the memo about the dress code and whatever other inane things she was spouting.

Since Gourry often liked to get use out of his muscles, he hefted the scientist up on one of his shoulders and said, "I guess we're taking this guy back to Seyruun?"

"That's right, Gourry-san!" Amelia said with a smile and took one of Zelgadis' hands in her own.

"Let's go home!"

* * *

A week later, Zelgadis would still not talk about what he'd been through in the mad scientist's lab. Just that the man was trying to create a perfect and healthy chimera body for his dying brother. Amelia was saddened by the idea that there had been an innocent person with an illness caught up in the horrible deeds performed in that lab, but she did not recall seeing anyone else at the house that night, and Zelgadis said that in his brief waking moments he did not remember seeing anyone, either. They decided that the brother was either already dead and Jerome was driven mad by that fact and wouldn't accept it, or that the brother was possibly living somewhere else.

Those theories were easier to stomach than a lingering thought in the back of all their minds. That Jerome's brother had already become one of his brother's failed experiments.

* * *

"Zelgadis-san?"

The chimera looked up from the book he was reading and noticed that Amelia was wearing a very beautiful new gown (not that he went out of his way to notice such things, of course, but he thought he had seen all her gowns...) and that she looked very nervous.

"Yes, Amelia?" He said, looking at her quizzically.

Amelia fidgeted a bit and started rambling, "Well, I'm the crown princess and heir to the throne, with my sister gone and all. Someday they'll come and tell me I'm ascending to the throne. Anyway, there are certain rules the future Queen must abide by and..."

Zelgadis sighed, "Amelia, I know all this. What's the matter with you today?"

Her cheeks flushed slightly as she plunged on, "Well, you see, these rules say that it's appropriate for someone in my position to be able to ask a certain question of someone, even though I'm a girl."

Zelgadis was incredibly confused. To be fair, Amelia often confused him, but this was new.

"Yes, Amelia, you are certainly a girl. A young woman, actually," Zelgadis gave her a reassuring smile.

That seemed to somehow make Amelia feel better, because she had been slowly deflating as her babbling went on. Finally, she stood up straight and looked Zelgadis right in the eyes as she said, "Zelgadis-san, will you marry me?"

Zelgadis dropped his book, and his jaw.

"You're asking me to...?" He let the thought trail off, because he simply could not wrap his brain around the concept.

Amelia nodded, her blush getting deeper. She approached him slowly and crouched down to be on eye level with him.

"When I thought you were dead, I realized that we never get a second chance in this life. Unexpected things happen, and before you know it there are so many regrets that it's like losing a piece of your heart. All you can think of is all the things you never said. All the things that might have made it slightly less painful. Maybe it's selfish, but I cannot and will not go through that again. So no matter your answer, I had to ask it."

With that, she stood and looked at him. Standing quietly, awaiting his answer, Amelia was falling apart inside.

Zelgadis slowly got up and walked past Amelia, his back to her.

Amelia stayed frozen in place, afraid to even breathe.

It wasn't until she heard Zelgadis mumble something that she finally turned. His back was still to her as she softly inquired, "What was that, Zelgadis-san?"

"I said 'yes'," He repeated.

"...Y-you mean it?!" Amelia exclaimed, happy tears filling her eyes.

Zelgadis finally turned to face her, and his eyes showed his fear and uncertainty.

"As long as it's what you want, Amelia," he went on. "I don't think I'm much of a catch, but..."

"Oh, shut up!" she yelled happily, throwing herself into his arms. "I love you, you big stone idiot."

He smiled and stroked the back of her hair, "I love you too, you silly justice freak."

Then he kissed her. For a very long time.

* * *

They were married a month later in a ceremony that shut down the entire kingdom. Zelgadis would have rather had a smaller and more private affair, but of course Amelia was a princess and her wedding had to be an ordeal.

Everyone was there as Amelia walked down the isle is a gleaming white gown with periwinkle blue accents, arm-in-arm with her father. Her bouquet of dark blue roses delighted those she passed, leaving their beautiful scent behind.

Filia sat in one of the front pews, bouncing baby Val on her lap. Martina and Zangulus were next to her, and Martina was making a show of crying and blowing her nose while Zangulus tried to slouch down in his seat so his hat wouldn't block anyone's view. Sylphiel also sat up front, and gave Amelia an encouraging smile as she passed.

As Amelia approached the alter, she saw Lina looking radiant in her pink bridesmaid dress that no red-haired person should be able to wear, but she pulled it off. They exchanged large smiles with each other, and Lina gave her a wink. On the opposite side of the alter, Gourry stood in a black tux with a vest and tie in the same shade of pink as Lina's dress. He also threw a wink at Amelia, and gave her a thumbs up.

Little Pokota sat on Gourry's shoulder, wearing a tuxedo made just for him, and holding a pillow which had two gold bands sitting upon it. When Amelia gave him a smile, the young prince blushed and looked down with a smile of his own.

Then Amelia saw her future husband, and her heart stopped. He stood there, looking at her as if he'd just found his cure. He wore a white tuxedo with a periwinkle blue tie and vest that perfectly matched the accents on Amelia's dress, and also looked perfect against his skin.

Amelia and her father stopped, and Phil handed his daughter off to Zelgadis.

"I know you'll take good care of her," he whispered to his soon-to-be son-in-law, his voice cracking a bit.

Zelgadis nodded and took Amelia's arm in his own.

The priest performed the ceremony, and everyone watched in respectful silence. Then the couple kissed, and everyone cheered.

After the kiss, a lone figure in a long back dress who had been standing in the back of the room turned on her heel and began to walk out.

"Leaving so soon?" Came a voice she did not recognize.

The women turned her familiar dark blue eyes on the figure leaning casually against the other side of the doorframe.

"What business is it of yours?" she asked, haughtily.

The man gave her a somewhat creepy smile and said, "I simply know that Amelia-san would be thrilled to see you. Perhaps you should stay for the reception."

The woman turned her head down and closed her eyes, smiling.

"You seem to know so much," she said, "But you don't know enough. She's better off without me here. I just...didn't want to miss today."

With that, she began to walk away.

"How much longer will you hide?" The man called after her, opening brilliant violet eyes.

The woman stopped abruptly before calling over her shoulder, "Until someone manages to find me!"

Then she was gone.

THE END

"_When your sky is falling_

_When your pain is calling_

_Don't forget_

_that I will take you home_

_'Cause you are not alone..."_

-You're Not Alone, Nick Lachey


End file.
